Bamboozled (2000)

BAMBOOZLED, not BEDAZZLED, so don't BECONFUSED, is Spike Lee's latest
Big Statement, a drab-looking and nearly entirely laugh-less satire
that takes a page from THE PRODUCERS, when a frustrated black televis-
ion writer (Damon Wayans), tired of rejection for racially intelligent
scripts, conceives the most stereotype-stocked program possible: a
gen-u-ine minstrel show, complete with watermelon patch and burnt-cork
blackface. And, as in the aforementioned Mel Brooks film, the inten-
tional offender becomes an instant hit. [ Insert clip of Zero Mostel
lamenting to Gene Wilder: "Where I go right?" ] The problem is that
the show's success occurs in the *middle* of the movie and not at or
near the end. So, the slack-jawed shtick is repeated, over and over,
to unfunny (and, to some, likely unpleasant) effect. Worse, it re-
sults in a subsequent hour's-worth of reactions from the half-dozen,
uniformly dull characters, beginning with (boring) speeches and wrap-
ping with (rap) violence. Sigh. For chuckles, Lee's film is practic-
ally DOA, 'cept for a pair of inspired TV commercial parodies. Plus
five funny minutes of a black comedian's nightclub act. (The latter
adding a sorely needed kick to the film's clown-costumed pants.) And
if all *that* wasn't a bitter-enough pill, Lee stacks the deck even
*further* with some of the shabbiest, drab-iest, and ugliest-looking
photography of his career. We're talkin' shots looking shot through a
pair of sweaty gym shorts... He also has star slash narrator Wayans
speak in a silly, over-enunciated, "white person" accent, effectively
rendering *him* grating from the get-go. (Not to mention establishing
him as a caricature instead of a character.) There's even a odd lack
of historical detail. Lee tosses out a tidbit or two, sure, but oth-
erwise presumes that we both know the history of minstrel and are al-
ready offended by their depiction. Early, he hints at a coming and
perhaps comprehensive overview of African-American screen stereotypes.
Doesn't happen. Instead, Lee wraps with an extended, heart-sinking
montage of early 20th Century "Negro footage." Yeah, it's a big bag
of downers, but the clips really belong at or near the *beginning* of
the film. You know, where they might be more useful. True story: A
certain someone fell asleep in this one, in the first hour, only to be
awakened... someone *else's* snoring! Guess that rates as "two eye-
lids down," eh? (Rated "R"/135 min.)
Grade: D
Copyright 2000 by Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies as MOVIE
HELL: To Be Tricked or Deceived